Finally! A weekend at the Cabin

Between soccer and other scheduling issues, we went the whole summer without making a trip to the cabin. Josh's game was rescheduled for last Saturday so on a whim, we packed up and headed to the mountains. There were still things at home that we missed (Scout overnighter and the Primary Program), but sometimes a weekend away with the family is worth the sacrifice.

We haven't been there this late in the season for several years. I forgot how gorgeous it is when the leaves are changing. And, it was a little surprising how much run off there still is this time of year. Erin had to keep "touching" the water to see if it was cold. She's a crack up.

The kids love Manor Lands and all there is to do. In the past, we have had ATV's and other fun toys up there, but this time we just enjoyed nature. Erin and Emma were disappointed about not doing the zip line, but there were other people using it the whole weekend. We "hiked" down to Backman's to say hi, but nobody was home.

We went to the Scout Camp and parked outside the gate. I think we were technically trespassing, but no one seemed to care. Jer did some serious reminiscing about all the time he spent there as a teenager. He worked there one summer and can remember every detail. He walked Josh around and explained what Merit Badges you can pass off there and how awesome the whole experience is.  The girls had fun stirring the fish around in the lake and looking for animal tracks (which there were a lot of). When we started up the hill to the car, we noticed a branch in the road that wasn't there just a half hour before when we walked down the hill. A beaver had been quietly working away at it and had almost made it to his destination with the branch when we interrupted him. Erin is holding the branch in the picture above and you can see all the wood chips from the busy little beaver. So fun.

If only the weekend getaway could have lasted just a little longer...

Josh and I deleted our Facebook pages this morning. He's a good kid and decided if there is anyone that wants to contact him, they know how without fb. Goodbye evil facebook world. We don't miss you and all your gossip.

That's So Random

One of the miscellaneous things on my to do list has been to go through all of Jer's Cd's and put them all back in their own case. They have been in a case in his car, but I decided it's time to put them all on an iPod or Zune and then stuff the Cd's away in the garage. I can't believe the collection that we have. Jer was Virgin Records biggest fan and has not purchased a cd since the one at Gateway closed. He is a firm believer in actually paying money for music instead of stealing it like most people these days do. And, thanks to all those cheaters, music stores are a thing of the past. And, by the way, he also believes in burning (as in flames) anything by Green Day so if you look closely at the picture and see any of that fine music - it's mine. I will claim all Green Day,  Enrique and Backstreet Boys. He wouldn't be caught dead with that stuff.

 

This is just a handsome pic of my soccer boy and his fancy necklace.

 I know school has been in session for a while now, but I still feel a need to include first day of school pictures. My kids hate these. Do all kids hate them? It's funny to me because they are in new clothes and their hair is actually done so why is it torture to have a picture taken?

I went back to work a couple of weeks after the kids started. It's been a fun year so far. I am tutoring at Granger High, Cottonwood High and Kennedy Jr. High. Last year, I was at Kearns and I am missing those cougars, but I love my job no matter what school I go to. (For information on the AVID program click here).

I had to post this adorable picture of my Laurels. I love these girls. This was at our activity  a week ago. We made these cute frames with hooks to hang necklaces on. Who cares what they are though - they made an awesome pic of the girls.

Labor Day weekend came and went. We had originally planned to take the kids to the cabin since we haven't been all summer, but it was taken. In an attempt to not let the kids get bored and disappointed, we came up with a list of  "ten things to do in one weekend." We didn't quite get to all ten things, but we succeeded in keeping them busy. On Friday, Jer and I spent a couple of hours at Swiss Days in Midway. I can never get enough of this place and next year I need to remember to plan ahead and go with the girls so that Jer doesn't need therapy by the end. Too many people and too many "crafts" in a too tiny of an area makes him anxious. Weird, huh?

The next thing on our list was to hike to Lake Mary with the kids. This was probably my favorite part of the weekend. They did awesome and now we know that those little chicken legs of Erin's can hike like a big kids. We have been waiting for our baby to get big enough to start doing things like this. She was awesome.

I don't know that I have ever been up there this late in the summer. Isn't is gorgeous? I felt horribly guilty for all the swimming we did when I was "younger" when I saw all the signs that say the water is used for drinking. Teenagers are dumb 'cause I'm sure those signs aren't new.

 Emma has always been a lover of nature. She was in heaven. As I went back through my pictures, she was leading the way nearly the entire time. I love that she loves the outdoors.

 I found a disc of pictures from 2003 and had to share this. This picture was taken at Trevor and Jenns' wedding. Josh was five and Emma was two. And to think that my Josh will be a teenager tomorrow.

Bitter Sweet September

This time of year is so bitter sweet for me. I hate that Summer has to come to an end, but I love everything about Fall. Since the kids are just shy of being back to school for two weeks, I thought I would share some of my random summer pictures.

We spent a lot of time at 7 Peaks this year. It never feels like it's enough, but we almost made it once a week all summer long.

 It was especially fun every time we had a friend or cousin with us. The Summer Pass of all Passes was awesome because we weren't the only family to have them. Logan came with us a couple of times, Lynsee and Bryn a few times and Kailee as often as possible. And, as if we don't spend enough time with Josh's soccer team, we played with them at 7 Peaks too. 

 My camera was  a little fuzzy (might have water on it or something... I'm so bad about that). But look how cute these girls are. They're all so photogenic.

 

 I love this picture because KK and Bryn are both there with us. Lynsee is expecting Bryn's baby brother (baybro) and after spending a day at a water park with Bryn, I now know why Lynsee is still barely showing - she has to chase her two year old non-stop. That little stinker is fast.

 Erin started the summer out with some hesitation with the water. I don't know if it was because the other kids always had a friend with them and she was stuck hanging out with her mom, but she didn't want to do much in the beginning. Needless to say, by the end of the summer, there wasn't much she wouldn't do. She even went to the deep end of the wave pool with me and sat on the tube. And, from the picture below you can see that we stayed until we were pruned.

 This is how Logan and Josh play at a water park. What kind of kid does that?

 Most times, I packed a picnic lunch for the kids, but our last day there we decided to get a burger in the park. It was so yummy and really wasn't that pricey (surprisingly).

 Besides hanging out at 7 Peaks, we did a lot of grilling in the back yard. And, we are so not close to being done with this. This picture is one I sent to Jer while he was in Denver. Sad, but I needed to prove that I was feeding our kids while he was gone.

Another sweet part of this time of year - tomatoes. I pretty much make myself sick on a daily basis all through August and September. These are the first three red one's from this years harvest. We have tomatoes and peppers coming out our ears at this point.. oh yummy salsa.

Unfortunately, our summer included a sad goodbye. This is Avery and Erin. The only thing missing from this picture is Ashlyn. These three princesses have been best friends for as long as they can remember (since their little lives only consist of  5-6 years). Avery's dad got a job in Rhode Island and while we are so happy for this new chapter in their lives, we are missing them like crazy. Avery's mom is one of my closest friends as well so I'm moving on ... can't blog about this without crying.

 And, of course, we spent a whole lot of time on the soccer field this summer. I have mostly covered all the tournaments already, but I couldn't blog about our summer without including at least one soccer picture. We figure Josh played in 22 (I think) games this summer. That's two seasons worth crammed into a summer. I'm sporting quite the soccer mom tan.

So welcome September. Yes, I hate to say goodbye to water parks and the smell of fresh cut grass, but September is a favorite of mine. Here's to back to school, fall harvest, birthdays, cooler weather, more soccer and dance, and football season.

USA Adidas Cup

Since my little camera took a swim in the creek, I took pictures with my phone. I do wish I had taken my Nikon, but I have a hard time lugging it around along with all the other crap I have to take to games (chairs, sunblock, water, snacks, umbrellas....).

We finally made it over the hump this tournament and played in the championships. We killed another USA team in the semi-finals and advanced to the end. Our first few games were close. We tied our first game 1-1 and ended up playing that same team for first place. They won in the end by one stinking point. It was tied 3-3 and I thought it was going to go to extra time, but the one good player they had on their team scored in the last 30 seconds. I actually think the time was up 3-4 minutes earlier but the ref hadn't called the game. I think he was just going to let the game go until someone scored again so that we didn't have to play all day. It was 100 degrees and the kids had already played that morning so I don't blame him.

In one of the games, Josh did one of his awesome slide tackles (the legal kind) and ripped his knee up. He was pretty annoyed that the ref made him leave the field to get it cleaned up. He didn't understand why blood is such a big deal. So after some explaining and waiting for the the medic team to clean him up, he went back in but just in time for the whistle to blow and the game to be over. His coach kept asking if he was done and ready to go back in and Josh was freaking out about it taking too long to get cleaned up, but rules is rules. He called his dad after the game and told him he missed the whole second half. It was more like 6-7 minutes, but it felt like forever.

So here they are after getting their awards. It was great for the boys to finally get a medal. I think they were all a little mixed up inside - happy to be there, but bummed about second place. Not much you can do though when the other team has a 17 year old scoring all the goals for them.

It was a great way to end a summer packed with tournaments. This was our fifth tourney since June and the difference in our team is pretty remarkable. Our season starts next week and they are all excited to get started.

Yesterday Josh stayed home from school with a stomach bug. He was beside himself when he found out that I emailed his coach and told him he wouldn't be at soccer last night. Isn't that mean? He seriously was lost last night when he started to feel better and couldn't go to practice. The kid can't breath without a ball at his feet.
  

Camping

Since the boys and I were originally planning to be in England the week of August 8th, my parents had scheduled a week of camping with the girls. For those that haven't heard, Jer got a new job last month and has spent the month of August in Colorado.  So, as good as a new job is, unfortunately, we had to postpone our England trip to next Spring. Erin and Emma still got to go with Grandma and Grandpa on their little vacation though.  Josh and I went up Thursday night and crashed their party.

 The girls were excited to show us everything that they had been doing. Playing in the creek is something I grew up doing. I was a little worried initially because of the water levels this year, but the creek was way down. It didn't take Emma long to put a hole in her shorts going down the "slide." And then, shortly after that, her bum cheeks were showing! So funny. She didn't believe me when I told her that would happen. I really wanted to take a picture of them hanging on the clothes line, but she threw a fit about it.

The picture below is how the big kids play in the creek. I kept asking Josh if he was ever going to get off his throne - he didn't think it was funny when I helped him out of it. I didn't think it was funny when my camera took a dive in the creek. :(

 The tent looks small in this picture - it's not small. Weird.

Erin didn't realize how much she had missed me until I got up the canyon to see her. She couldn't leave my side. I didn't mind. I was lonely without her, too. The crazy thing is that the kids immediately went back to fighting and driving me crazy. How is it that the girls went all week not whining or fighting, but as soon as Josh and I got there, everything changed.

There were only a few moments when they were actually all getting along and smiling... usually when my camera was out. It was so fun to spend time in the mountains. It is one of my favorite things to do. Next time I would just prefer to not be a single parent. Thank heavens for grandmas and grandpas.

England update: For those that have helped Josh work toward his England trip, we appreciate it so much!!!! He has earned more than half of his part and is excited to go to ManU this Spring. I will keep you all up to date as he continues to prepare for his AMAZING trip!

Park City Extreme Cup

 USA White 2011

(from left to right) Tyler, Hudson, Dakota, Parker, Ethan, Jabin, Connor, Jake, Riley, Josh, Jeff, (front) Jared, Kaden, Leo,(laying) Ryan, Canyon

-

 We had such a fun time at the Park City Extreme Cup. Josh's team has gotten crazy good ... until they get to the semi-finals. Ugh. We killed it in the first three games (scores were 9-2, 7-1, 4-2) and went to the semi-finals in first place. But, unfortunately, we didn't win that game so we didn't advance to the championships.We are playing in the Adidas Cup this coming weekend and I think the boys, the parents and the coach are counting on taking a gold. This will be our 5th tournament since school got out and these boys need to take home a trophy.

 Josh put his new shoes to the test. They performed well. Or he did. Or both. He played every minute of all the games so I'm getting the impression that his coach is liking the way he plays. This is the first time in years he has had this much field play (rather than being in the box as keeper all the time) and he is really loving every minute of the game.

 Erin and Emma survived another tournament mostly because Cari came and entertained them. We had way too much fun. The kids got to see what Cari and I act like late at night with a lot of caffeine and sugar in our systems.We're not exactly mature.

 The girls bat their eyes at Cari and she buys them what they want. This time it was hats. They are cute in hats.

 For some reason, it's fun to go out to eat in Park City. We went to one of my all time Park City favorites: Baja Cantina. Remember going there in high school after concerts at Wolf Mountain? Ha! I do. I love that place.

 It was fun to take the kids there. We love Mexican.

 Another favorite (a new favorite) is Park City Pizza Co. It was so yummy and right across the street from our condo. They were super fun with the soccer players - they had a big sign in the restaurant welcoming the "soccer studs" and they treated Josh like a star.

 We were at the outlet mall doing a little back to school shopping and I got a phone call from Jer (still in Denver). He was having a bad day - missing his kids and being frustrated with missing the tournament. So he asked me to send him a pic of the kids. I'm not sure this is what he was hoping for, but this sums up the humor for the weekend. It was crazy, but oh so fun.

Towards the end of the weekend, Josh was plum out of energy. He had played in four soccer games, gone shopping at the outlet mall, done lots of sight seeing, and played in the pool. He is a good sport though and let me take lot's of pictures of him. :)

Stinky Boy

Josh got home from Bear Lake today and man are we glad to have him home! He probably could have left the stink there, but at least he is home. Six days is a long time for my buddy to be gone! He is so not a mama's boy - he is so independent and doesn't need me, but I need him. :) He is my helper, my buddy and my peacemaker. I'm so proud of him for not only going away for six days, but for completing five merit badges! Isn't that crazy? I can't believe how much they do in one weeks time. He just got home and is already talking about what classes he wants to take next year. He finished his rifle shooting (and did really well, in fact), environmental science, canoeing, swimming and archery merit badges.

He has earned his Second Class and is well on his way with his First Class. I'm so grateful for his Scout of a dad, his awesome leaders and grandpa's that have helped him. He is working to have his Eagle when he is fourteen and this mama is not earning it for him. I am not the best Scout Mom - I'm learning the rules of the game right along with him.

This is a picture of him last Sunday night before they left. He has everything packed neatly on his back. And, he is clean and smiling. I should've taken a picture of him this morning when they got home. He wasn't as "compact" and didn't smell as nice. But, he was smiling!

Before he got to camp, he wanted to do a practice run with the tent. He said he was sure he could set it up, but taking it down was another story. Jer and I sat out at the picnic table and watched. With very little coaching, he did it. He is a good kid. Silly how just watching your boy set up a little two man tent makes you realize how quickly he is becoming a man. The first time he passed the sacrament, I cried. And now he is back from a week long camp. What am I going to do when he does get his Eagle? I guess as long as his voice doesn't change and his leg hairs don't get any longer, I can deny his manhood.

However, if you look at the boys shoe size and "taste" in soccer cleats, he is all man. He only got one season out of his last boots so we told him before Fall we would take him to get new one's. I got an email from Team Gear saying the boots ("boots" are what hot shot soccer players call cleats) were all on sale until the end of last week. So my boy get's online and starts drooling. He came to me at one point and asked if I thought his dad would let him get Nike instead of Adidas this time. I obviously know very little about what he is talking about so I ask why he wants Nike. Why does it really matter? Where I come from, you go to the PayLess Shoe Source down the road and try on all the shoes until you find some that are cute and mostly fit. I have quickly learned that for Josh, getting this particular boot is like me getting my first pair of Gerbeau jeans in 1990. So, we get to the soccer store and Josh starts trying on. He was a good sport and humored me by trying on the cleats I thought looked like good one's, but in the end he got what he wanted. :) All I will say is that if he doesn't run faster, jump higher and kick harder in these boots, he never will. They are the hot diggity bomb. I think he had a hard time leaving them home while he was at scout camp. He told me he was going to sleep with them. For those that care about this kind of crap (ie the Johnson boys) they are the Nike Mercurial Vapor VII FG Cleats. If you google them, you will see that all the hot shots (Christiano Ronaldo) wear them. And Ronaldo does run fast, jump high and kick hard. They must be magic.

Oh it's a good thing I love this boy. Josh. Josh is the boy I love. (and Jer) But it's okay that I put a picture of Ronaldo, right? Josh loves Ronaldo, so in order to support him, I love Ronaldo, too. He he.

So Jer is packing for his big "vacation" to Denver. I'm so not looking forward to him being gone, but I am glad my Josh is back. 

Welcome home, Stinky boy.